I’d taken the opportunity to catch the morning news yesterday morning and the forecast called for rain early Friday morning. It would be the first time I used the rain fly on the tent. It also meant dealing with the rain and moving camp sometime during the day on Friday, but I didn’t know that leaving Shelton.
The plan had been to roll up to Lewis and Clark State Park and take the hike/bike site for the two nights I’d planned on staying. That plan got scrapped when the hike/bike site was taken by another cyclist. I guess if you live by the hike/bike site you die by is as well. Thankfully there was another site free and I got setup in it without issue. Unfortunately it was free for two consecutive nights.
Last night I jumped on the park’s website and made a quick reservation for the LAST site available. Another blessing was that it was a short walk away. I was in site 11 on Thursday night and would only need to move to site 4. Satisfied that things were as good as they were going to get I crashed out.
I woke up this morning at 5:30 to the sound of rain pitter patterning on the tent. I knew it was coming, but I’d held out hope the weather forecast would go my direction. I got up and used the restroom and crawled right back into my tent.
There is where I would stay until around 1:00. I made breakfast and read a book the entire time while laying there. It wasn’t as comfortable as I would have liked, but hey it’s camping. If I wanted comfort I’d buy a 30 ft. diesel pusher with dual slide outs.
Anyway, 1:00 is check-out time and I’d been keeping an eye on the radar. It looked like the rain was going to be stopping and it sounded like it too. I decided there would be no better time to bite the bullet and get everything moved so I sprang into action.
I gathered everything up and threw it into my panniers and saddle bag. I mounted everything on Shadow and moved him to a “Campers Only” picnic area perfectly placed between my two sites. I used this space as my “staging area” for the move. I left my pad and quilt in the tent and picked the entire thing up and moved it to the staging area. Then I moved the tent’s footprint to the new site.
Setup was the reverse of removal. Moved the tent and got it restaked. Then moved all the gear in the panniers over. The only thing at the picnic area now are Shadow, my riding kit from yesterday (still trying to get dry), my camp chair, my book, and I. Perfect way to spend the rest of the afternoon!
Be First to Comment